Sunday, May 04, 2008

8:15AM - Visiting with Sasha.Sasha Sedan lives in the French Hill neighborhood of north Jerusalem. I rented a Bread & Breakfast room from Sasha in 1998, my first time in Israel. We have kept in contact over the years thru email. This morning I am going to see Sasha again.

Knowing where to go makes a bus trip easy. I walked 1/2 mile to the central bus station. I would learn that the #5 bus goes right past my room! Three times walking around the bus station neighborhood looking for the #28 bus took about an hour. People and bus drivers gave directions, all of them wrong.

Finally I learned of the information window at the bus station and learned that #28 passes directly in front of the station building. Wow!

#28 to French Hill.

Sasha Sedan who lives in North Jerusalem.

11:30AM - Hamash Bier department store.This may not be the proper spelling for Hamash Bier, a department store in Jerusalem. That is where I went to shop for clothes.

Remember that only the clothes on my back, short pants and an xtra T-shirt went with me on the flight to Israel. And of course I had some underwear!

Little Mavicito and I took the #28 back to the central bus station, then the #21 to the store. Jerusalem's Egged bus system is terrific. Busses come often and go all over. I bought a pass that allows passage for an entire month. The pass cost $220 shekels [$64US].

#21 bus to Hamash Bier department store.

Clothes shopping was interesting. A clerk helped me with find the right sizes. What is needed is, a couple of T-shirts, socks, and underpants. Everything went fine until it came time to pay.

The underpants cost $35 shekels each [$10US]. That price seemed too high, and they were not bought. Got to get them for less then $10!

Buying clothes in Jerusalem! i

Falafel.Have you ever eaten falafel? There are a zillion things inside besides the falafel balls. Hummas, mixed vegetables, french fries.

A falafel costs $13 shekels [$3.75US]. I am surprised that fast food costs sooooooo much in Israel! The falafel was the cheapest thing sold too. An orange soda drink cost $8 shekels [$2.30US].